Reconstruction Therapy
by draconichero21
Summary: She smiled in hope in the face of despair. In a split second, Izuru Kamakura had to make a decision. Whether she lived or died was ultimately up to him. Rated T for mild adult themes and cursing. A therapeutic fanfic for those that needed an even happier ending to the Danganronpa 3 anime. WARNING: Spoilers for those that haven't seen it!
1. A Split Second Decision

**(A/N: If you know me, you know that I like to give explanations as to why I came up with certain ideas and the reasons behind them, complain that I couldn't get this out of my head and just** _ **had**_ **to do it. But for once, I'm going to stay relatively silent and just give some warnings. SPOILERS: This story SHOULD NOT BE READ until AFTER the Danganronpa 3 anime has been watched IN FULL. I will say nothing else because for those of you that watched the anime, the narrative will do all of the talking for me. Enjoy!)**

Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa

* * *

Tears. For Izuru Kamakura, such things were thought impossible to produce. The world was boring. He had a plethora of talents that could let him conquer the world if he so chose, but he knew how that would turn out: he'd have to give it back eventually out of sheer boredom. Putting down rebellions would be tedious and language barriers would still persist worldwide in spite of his best efforts.

But none of that was a concern for him right now. Instead, the tears flowing down his face, alarmed him. Even though his brain had been altered, his heart had not and the emotional turmoil of seeing this girl dead in front of him had brought another side of him out that he was told no longer existed.

No, not dead. Not yet. Izuru could tell it to be true. With his analytic and medical knowledge, he could tell that the Ultimate Gamer, Chiaki Nanami, hadn't yet passed on to the next world. She was hanging on by a tiny thread and no longer conscious. Her five senses were gone, but blood was still pouring out of her body. Her body was still warm and her skin hadn't paled, but in mere minutes this would not matter. For any professional in the world though, they would declare Chiaki already deceased. Unless she was already on an operating table right this second.

But Izuru Kamakura was not a professional. He was created by Hope's Peak Academy to be the Ultimate Hope and he had more in his brain than just the Ultimate Surgeon. If there was even a chance he could save Chiaki, he had to take it. Chance. That word rarely came into Izuru's brain. In fact, it was the first time he'd thought of that word since he'd been "born" when it wasn't related to gambling. Chance was an unknown, like good luck. Could he save Chiaki? Well, Izuru Kamakura welcomed this challenge. If nothing else, his failure would end in that unknown despair Junko loved to talk about. But if he succeeded, what would he feel? Yes, clearly this idea to save Chiaki was worth pursuing.

Hajime Hinata, whose consciousness still lay dormant inside Izuru was _pleading_ with him to save Chiaki. For a moment, Hajime's will overpowered Izuru's, as a loud thought demanded that the only girl he'd ever cared for be spared a horrible fate. The boy who adored Hope's Peak Academy all his life could only pray and hope for a miracle, a miracle that was far beyond his capabilities. It was a miracle that Izuru intended to try and perform.

Izuru did not understand it himself. He was not even aware of Hajime's existence, only the driving force within him that was telling him "Please, save her! Save this girl! Save Chiaki Nanami!" This lack of understanding, whatever this feeling was, Izuru liked it. Izuru had thought that he knew and understood everything, but since meeting Junko, this was the second time he'd been faced with something he did not fully comprehend.

With that, Izuru set to work. With his brain calculating several times faster than even the topmost running PCs, his body moving with the speed of an Ultimate Olympic athlete, and the deftness of an Ultimate Seamstress, Izuru set to work. In less than a nanosecond, he had broken a piece of the tile floor and carved it into a makeshift blade. He used this to cut pieces of Chiaki's clothing and used it to dress her wounds, bounding them to slow the flow of blood. He could do nothing for her internal injuries, not now, but it was the best he could do for the moment. In a flash of an instant, Chiaki's body looked like a half-wrapped present, Izuru's actions unmindful of her modesty as such things were irrelevant in a crisis.

Next, Izuru carefully picked up Chiaki, careful not to disturb her heart muscles any further than they'd already been damaged. In fact, the spears seemed to have intentionally missed the heart entirely. It seemed Junko wanted Chiaki to die a slow, painful death of blood loss. Yes, thinking about it, Chiaki's final moments were meant to be in front of Izuru.

Meant to be, but weren't going to be, not if Izuru himself had anything to say about it. Junko had left the matter of Chiaki's body to Izuru when she came up with this inane idea of despair and Izuru would take advantage of her generosity as he saw fit. It was as she said, despair was an unknown. His tears were proof of despair he could not understand. But then…why had Chiaki smiled in the end? That was not the face of someone doomed to die. It seemed hope too was an unknown. Hope or despair, which was greater? Izuru had to know.

To that end, he continued his actions into the next step. Gingerly picking Chiaki off the ground, her body still bleeding in his arms, Izuru made for the secret exit out of the room he was in. Junko had completely remade the old building to her liking. It was all part of her ingenious next phase: the killing game between her classmates. Izuru cared nothing for it, but Junko's isolation of her own physical being would benefit what he had planned. Carrying Chiaki carefully, but swiftly, Izuru made it to the bio labs in what would seem like the blink of an eye to a normal human being.

Once inside, Izuru took a look around. He knew Junko later planned to redesign the place into a morgue, but for now most of the equipment was still available and Izuru needed the room for what he had in mind.

Laying Chiaki flat on an exam table, he left her there for a moment under a hot lamp. It would have to do as a heat source for the moment. Izuru then spared a moment's glance at Chiaki. If not for the blood all over her, she would appear to be sleeping, she seemed so peaceful. Izuru then ran out of the room and ransacked the old building for numerous objects, soon outfitting the bio labs with more accessories than the room was usually accustomed to.

Izuru ran the numbers in his head. Two minutes and twenty-four seconds should have passed in the time it took him to get to this moment. He was cutting things close. He began by turning on a bunch of heating pads and a tower heater in order to warm up Chiaki's body. He had to keep her from going cold at any cost. To that end, he even placed her body on a warm, fuzzy blanket. He couldn't cover her, not right now. He used an instant thermometer. Her body temperature was within acceptable parameters for the moment.

It appeared that, for the time being, Junko's sadism would prove to be Chiaki's salvation. By deliberately missing the heart, lungs and head from direct puncturing—they'd only been scraped in certain areas—Junko had made Chiaki feel unbearable pain while prolonging her intended, inevitable death. As expected of the woman decreed the Ultimate Despair. Even the spinal cord was strangely intact, every wound missing it by mere millimeters.

But Izuru was no longer transfixed on Chiaki's body. He was currently standing over another work station next to a pile of blood packets, type O, same as Chiaki's. He had every intention to create a solution that would revert any cells it was injected into back into stem cells that were encouraged to produce cells of the same type to those around it. Many would call this line of work "not an exact science", but for someone like Izuru, this was child's play. He had no time to test the solution. He simply had to make it, using the knowledge rolling around his brain, and apply it. Chiaki was dead anyway if he failed and time was not on his side.

Every so often, for a fraction of a second, he'd get distracted, and look at the slab where Chiaki was lying, worried for her. The part of him that was Hajime Hinata still burned strongly and, even know, was pushing its own agenda of feelings and emotions that a normal human being would feel in a crisis like this.

It didn't take Izuru long to finish his solution and then he put on a pair of surgical gloves and grabbed a pair of forceps. One by one he began poking and prodding at each of Chiaki's open wounds, holding them open with his hand and forceps before applying his solution to the affected area. Unsurprisingly the solution worked like something out of a science fiction movie, the wounds in Chiaki's body closing up at a rapid rate. At a rapid rate…but not instantaneous. It would be a while before the body could completely repair itself.

To prevent more foreign bacteria from getting into Chiaki's open wounds, Izuru sewed them shut with dexterity and precision. The damage to her intestines and stomach was the most severe, as that was where most of the spears had struck her. A normal person would have been mortified when they saw the flaps of Chiaki's small intestine sticking out of her body, but Izuru knew the human anatomy to a T and was able to get Chiaki anatomically correct, in spite of what Junko had done to her. How she had managed _anything_ after getting stabbed was nothing short of a miracle.

Although he didn't show it, Izuru felt sympathy towards the girl he was standing over. He wouldn't wish this type of death on anyone. No, not death, not yet. The moment he said she was dead, was the moment that this was all over. And that _could not_ happen. Izuru _refused_ to let it happen.

After much sweating under the hot lights and the heater, Izuru finally came to the wounds in Chiaki's chest. Without skipping a beat, he applied an injection to the affected area. As with all the others, the wound began to close up just the same. Chiaki's body, it seemed, would repair itself.

Izuru was relieved. From a near death state, Chiaki's body was now out of harm's way. She'd gone from hanging on by a thread to now hugging a very unstable cliff. And Izuru was going to pull her back onto a stable surface no matter what.

With Chiaki's body the way it was now, her body's skin cells were at work, but the rest of her body was not in sync. Her heart would likely not beat, nor would Izuru get a pulse from feeling her wrist. She would still be flatlined, but still not dead, well…not in the strictest sense. As long as part of the body was alive, life could be given to the rest of it. At least, that was what Izuru believed. But, none of that could be done now. If Izuru wasted any more time here, Junko would find out and something told him he'd best keep this a secret from her, lest she do something to finish what she started.

Taking Chiaki's mostly dead body, Izuru wrapped her in a warm blanket and clutched her to his body. There was plenty of blood over it, some of it fresh. If Junko saw him with it, she wouldn't bat an eyelash.

 _You will open your eyes again,_ Izuru thought as he walked with Chiaki in his arms, _I will make sure of it…because you smiled with hope in the face of despair._

 **End of Chapter 1**

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 **(A/N: Yeah, these are gonna be shorter than my usual chapters, but I want each "scene" as it were to be its own chapter. Click the Next button and continue enjoying this story. I think you already know what I'm up to, but, well, maybe you'll be surprised).**


	2. Reawakening

**(A/N: …)**

* * *

 **Two Days after The Tragedy**

While the world was busy going crazy, Junko Enoshima was busy getting set up for her killing game within the old building of Hope's Peak Academy. She had been locked away in Hope's Peak Academy even _before_ the real chaos started to occur. It didn't matter, of course, she knew it would happen. That's why she made the Remnants in the first place.

At this same time, in another part of the nation, Izuru Kamakura was watching news coverage of the world tearing itself apart. He found it…boring. The terror people were experiencing was nothing short of predictable. There were…a few instances of the unknown, but after a while the patterns became predictable, but what else could Izuru expect from normal human beings? If Junko was trying to persuade Izuru into making him believe that despair was something he should back, she was failing miserably. Hope is harmony, despair is chaos and therefore chaos is unknown. How many times had she said those words to him? Izuru had lost count. He was tired of hearing them. He was bored of Junko. Well…not completely boring, but he was growing tired of her antics. He had more important things to do right now anyway.

Shutting off the television, Izuru turned around and marveled at the large room he was in. After Hope's Peak Academy shut down, Izuru shuffled off and fashioned a secret lair of sorts for his own purposes. Said purpose? Finishing what he started with Chiaki. Her body had remained comatose and limp, but warm since his initial actions. Now that Junko could not bother him, he had everything at his disposal to complete what he set out to do and had been for the past several days.

At the back of the room, Chiaki's body was floating in a tank of green-tinted liquid. It was a purifying solution that could be absorbed through the skin cells. The solution was a cleansing fluid not unlike disinfectant, but much more potent. It was to remove all of the airborne bacteria that likely got into Chiaki's skin during the incident, as well as any bacteria on the lances Junko struck her with because clearly those things weren't sterilized. There was also the dirt from the rock that hit her in the head and all of the dirt on her clothes. Chiaki's body was floating like something out of a sci-fi movie, but this vision right here was very real.

Inside the tank were several filters, changing the solution so that any skin or hair cells that became detached from Chiaki's body couldn't pollute this otherwise clean tank of water. A mask was suctioned over Chiaki's mouth and nose. It wasn't giving her any air, merely cutting off the chances of water getting into body and flooding her newly repaired lungs. Other suction cups with attached needles were also inside Chiaki's body, giving her the blood she needed to fully repair her body. The process by which this was happening was incredibly slow compared to Izuru's previous phase, but repairing an almost dead body to a completely healthy one had never been performed by anyone, ever. If Izuru ever shared his actions with the world, it would be crowned a miracle of science. But…unfortunately there was no longer a world to share such achievements with.

Of course, this didn't mean anything to Izuru in the slightest. As he stood in front of the tank, his red eyes studied Chiaki's body, watching it. This was only the second step. Once Chiaki's body had been cleansed and dried and pumped full of blood, only then would Izuru give her the air necessary to breathe. After that, Izuru had fashioned a special helmet to interact with Chiaki's neurological impulses that, in theory, should send signals to her brain to the rest of the body to tell it to get up and start working. It would be like Chiaki had just woken from a long, overdue nap and, in actuality, that was almost what had happened. If all went according to plan, Izuru could simply welcome Chiaki back to the world of the living…what little was left of it anyway.

* * *

 **7 Days Later**

The day had finally arrived when Izuru felt it was time to try and breathe new life into Chiaki Nanami. She had been cleansed, dried off and was now hooked up to a machine of Izuru's own design to examine brain activity. Izuru ran a few tests, finding that the basic functions of Chiaki's body were in perfect working order. If her brain had been damaged in any way, it was likely this would not have gone nearly as smoothly.

Of course, Izuru had been so focused on simply bringing Chiaki back to life that he was not prepared for what was going to come next. Of course, had he been aware of it, it would not have made much difference. Just seeing the brunette breathe again was a miracle enough on its own.

After getting good readings from the few test electrical signals he was getting, Izuru metaphorically flipped the switch to wake Chiaki up. He looked over to where she was lying down, as naked as she day she'd been born. Izuru sat in his chair and watched as he right hand clutched from an involuntary muscle spasm. Chiaki's eyes flung open wide along with a loud gasp…only for her head to tilt back and her eyes to immediately close. Izuru became puzzled. He knew what that reaction was all about, but something about what happened immediately after seemed off. Getting up from his chair, he took a flashlight and walked over to Chiaki. He checked her pulse. It was at a resting rate. He could tell that from the rhythm. He checked her heart. It was beating. Good, he'd succeeded.

He put a glove on and poked at her body. Her organs seemed to be in healthy condition, not sagging or feeling too close to the forefront of the skin. He'd definitely done it. Chiaki Nanami was inhabiting a healthy, breathing body. One last check had to be made. Izuru pulled back Chiaki's eyelid and shined the flashlight in her eye. Nope. No dilation of the pupils. However, after forcibly opening Chiaki's eyelid, her head turned and she slammed it shut. Izuru backed off, shutting off the light to the flashlight. Chiaki's eyelids fluttered and she looked at the world around her. Izuru watched her sit up and then look up at him as he stood over her as she sat on the floor. His deep red irises met her pale pink eyes.

And then, Izuru watched Chiaki tilt her head and ask him a question he was not prepared for, "Who are you?"

 **End of Chapter 2**

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 **(A/N: Unexpected, no? Don't worry, I've got it all figured out. Next chapter is going to be a bit unorthodox for my writing style. …you'll see once you take a look).**


	3. From the Desk of Izuru Kamakura

**(A/N: Like I said, this is going to be a much different beast from how I normally write. I hope you enjoy this difference in writing style. I tried my best).**

* * *

 **From the Journal of Izuru Kamakura**

 **Day 1 of the Chiaki Nanami Experiment**

 _After waking up from her coma, the subject asked me "Who are you?" She clearly did not know who I was and I had to, it seems, remind her of her own identity. She showed no penchant for shame and immediately had a craving for nourishment and the need to relieve herself. Fortunately this facility has working electricity for both cooking and plumbing._

 **Day 2**

 _The subject showcases no memory of her life up until now. However, it seems this is only her memories that have been affected. Her instincts remain undamaged, but this will require further testing. Due to the circumstances, I have encouraged the subject refer to me as "master"._

 **Day 3**

 _Testing confirms that the subject is still fluent in her talent: gaming, however she cannot remember why._

 **Day 7**

 _Subject remained awake even whilst I slept doing nothing, but play video games. Twice I had to give her an IV injection when she refused nourishment. It seems I must act like a parent towards her if she continues to act like a child. Subject is currently asleep of her own accord. I am uncertain when she will awaken._

 **Day 9**

 _Subject finally asked, of her own accord, for clothing, though not for reasons of being ashamed of being nude in my presence. Her previous outfit was destroyed during "the incident", but I was able to fashion one extremely close to it._

 **Day 14**

 _Was able to conclude that subject's amnesia is psychosomatic due to the trauma of "the incident". Since the experiment began, I have not watched the news in her presence. In spite of her amnesia, subject shows a remarkable memory for pop culture, especially pertaining to the games she has played. Her memory skills of games she has played since the experiment began are remarkable. It is safe to say she does not have anterograde amnesia as well._

 **Day 25**

 _Subject attempted to cook for me in naught, but an apron. Something she said she saw in one of her videogames. For some reason this behavior made me uncomfortable. I have decided to document my own actions in this journal if I feel they are particularly noteworthy. At the very least, keeping this journal seems to bring me a small amount of joy, but I cannot for the life of me understand why._

 **Day 30**

 _Subject tried to go outside. I had to restrain and sedate her. I will have to explain things as gingerly as I can later. This is an innocence that should not be shattered lightly while her memory is still damaged._

 **Day 31**

 _I broached the subject of the world being over with the Subject. She is not to leave the confines of this facility without my supervision. The Subject was compliant with my demands. She seems to be taking the world being over rather well all things considered, but she still has not retained any memory of her life up until now. I feel it may be for the best._

 **Day 40**

 _I showed the subject the world outside. She contracted early signs of a common cold due to the air pollution. Living in this facility seems to have damaged her immune system. It seems I will have to do something about that._

 **Day 45**

 _I began giving the subject injections and vitamins to help her immune system. She thanked me with yet another home cooked meal. While her cooking pales in comparison to my own, for some reason I am unable to refuse her desire to reward me for my actions, even if I feel I've done nothing to deserve one._

 **Day 50**

 _Played co-op with the subject. Subject grew increasingly frustrated when I started pointing out plot holes and predicting plot developments due to my narrative and literary knowledge. We stopped playing after fifteen hours. I have been banned from playing RPGs in her presence. Apparently I "suck the fun out of it"._

 **Day 70**

 _Subject expressed a desire to have a party with friends. She stated that she feels she has some that are waiting for her and that she needs to see them. I asked her why. She said she had a dream about it a few nights ago. I cannot bring myself to tell her the truth._

 **Day 75**

 _Someone tried to break into the compound. I broke their legs, wiped their memory of coming here and dumped them far away from here, and then I outfitted them with a pair of casts to make it look like they'd suffered a traumatic incident with some falling debris. I could've easily murdered them, but…for some reason I feel as though I could not bring myself to look the Subject in the eye if I did that._

 **Day 100**

 _I chained the subject up near all of the game stations. It's to prevent her from wandering. I want to go out into the world for a little bit, see how she feels when I come back. It's funny, I can predict all possible outcomes in any given field, but when it comes to the Subject, I find myself quite curious as to which possibility will become reality. It's as though there is an unknown factor present and while her actions never fall outside a specified possibility, I am still incapable of predicting her exact every waking action even after being around her for 100 days._

 _There is one consistency the Subject has shown though: she always plays for more than five hours at a time on any single game._

 **Day 114**

 _I returned from my journey. The Subject welcomed me with open arms and a smile. In spite of the weights around her ankles, she made it over to me to give me a hug. She seemed to have thinned a bit. I had her weigh herself. She lost a significant amount of weight. She likely wasn't eating properly in my absence. I punished her by denying her the ability to play her precious videogames until she was healthy. Perhaps this would teach her not to be so reckless with the body I saved._

 **Day 115**

 _Subject forgot to take her meds while I was away. I had to increase the dosage of her injections in order to compensate, much to her chagrin. Now I have an inexplicable headache. That part of me that was supposed to be erased cares so damn much for that girl that I'm starting to wonder if it's influencing me, or if I myself am starting to be genuinely care for this girl._

 **Day 121**

 _I let the subject play videogames again. I've also scheduled her on a fitness program to keep her in shape._

 **Day 122**

 _Subject collapsed during fitness training. This requires further examination._

 **Day 123**

 _It seems that, in spite of my best efforts, the subject's body is not identical to a normal human being's. There is a considerable amount of scar tissue within several of her vital organs, including the heart and some major arteries. This makes physical fitness difficult. It's likely the subject cannot keep up cardiovascular strain for long periods of time and given my findings in her digestive system, Subject is prone to vomiting and various complications related to bowel movements. However, given the subject's own forgetfulness to eat and low calorie intake when she does eat, this has not posed a problem._

 _However, things cannot stay like this. I must perform surgery._

 **Day 130**

 _The surgery was a success, though the subject is still under anesthetic as I write this. My life with the subject has certainly made life less boring. I wonder why._

 **Day 150**

 _I resumed physical fitness training with the subject. I'll keep a close eye on her if she collapses again, but I'm hoping the surgery I performed should have prevented such things._

 **Day 160**

 _I've been going out for walks the past couple of days. Sometimes it gets stuffy inside that building and in spite of the polluted air outside. Walking is boring, but it's_ _a welcome distraction_ _from my life with the Subject. …It's the only distraction._

 **Day 170**

 _Subject has begun asking me to bring her videogames she's never played before. She seems to be under the impression that I can get her anything as long as she asks. Of course, given I'm the only one that leaves the facility, she likely has to use me to support her talent/hobby. I told her I would think about it._

 **Day 175**

 _Subject has become restless. She complains about becoming bored of the games she currently has. Her erratic sleeping schedule has resulted in waking me up more than once to pester me about new games and peripherals._

 **Day 200**

 _Insistence has led me to take the subject with me out into the destroyed world. With a backpack for us each, we intend to forage and pilfer for supplies…and games._

 _She is truly a headache._

 **Day 203**

 _We were almost mugged today. I fended off the attackers with extreme ease. Subject is impressed with my martial arts prowess. I suppose my talents would appear impressive_ _to a lesser being_ _someone without this skill set._

 **Day 207**

 _Subject and I raided an old game store. With the world in despair, payment is unnecessary. The world around the subject has had an effect on her psyche. She appears disheartened, but proximity to me maintains her sanity._

 **Day 213**

 _A lot happened today. I'll document these occurrences by number_

 _Subject called me "Hinata-kun". She said she didn't know why. I didn't either. I reminded her that my name is Izuru Kamakura. Her answer was "Are you sure?"_

 _Subject became angry and demanded to know who caused the world to be like this. Parts of her childhood seemed to have returned and she knows that the world didn't always used to be like this. She has shown great hatred towards Junko Enoshima. I kept silent. No matter what, I must remain passive in matters regarding her in order to continue my experiments regarding Hope Vs Despair._

 _We passed an arcade that I temporarily supplied power to so that the Subject could play at it. She seemed engrossed in these old machines. I dabbled in them a bit myself. In spite of us both having the Ultimate Gamer talent, I seem to be unable to find the enjoyment in them the same way she does. My only enjoyment, it seems, comes from interacting with her._

 _I asked the subject if she was ever worried that I would abandon her out of the blue. "You came back to me once before. I know you would never abandon me, Master. You've been good to me." That's what she said. I didn't know it was possible for my heart to skip beats._

 _We camped out in an abandoned hotel. Subject was insistent on sharing a room with a single bed. I told her not to stay up and play videogames. Strangely, she complied._

 **Day 214**

 _I woke up with the Subject…no…Nanami-san, curled up next to me this morning, the knuckle of her left index finger brushed up against her lips. She seemed so peaceful. Strangely, as though it were instinct, I caressed her head. Part of me felt warm when I did so. What is happening to me?_

 **Day 217**

 _Nanami-san continues to play her games as we walk. It's making steady progress difficult._

 **Day 218**

 _I found a vehicle in perfectly functioning order. This will make travel easier._

 **Day 225**

 _I drove to an airport. It was deserted. I found a private plane and loaded the car into the cargo bay. Nanami-san and I are going to travel all over the world._

 **Day 230**

 _Nanami-san has stopped calling me master. She calls me Kamakura-kun instead._

 **Day 235**

 _Nanami-san called me Hinata-kun again. Did she know me before my transformation?_

 **Day 240**

 _We've been traveling in America for the past ten days. Things are no less chaotic than they were in Japan, but Nanami-san is overjoyed. The game stores here haven't been raided to quite an extent as the one's back home and there are games that, apparently, one can only find in America. She relies on me for translations as she doesn't speak English as well as I do. I speak and read every language fluently. …I'm now wondering why I wrote something in a journal that only I read that's a simple fact to me._

 **Day 265**

 _Things have been so complacent and boring these past fifteen days. We travel, we gather supplies, we go to sleep. Nanami-san's erratic sleep pattern has started to dwindle. She looks forward to our travels so she limits her game playing accordingly. She has begun prefacing when she wishes not to travel the next day in order to stay up late playing. It's all the same to me though. The world is boring to me._

 _Ah, it appears my life and hers have become intertwined. I seem to be living not for myself…but for her._

 **Day 320**

 _Nanami-san and I returned to our abode. I abandoned the car and plane, lest someone figure out that we're staying here. The place is untouched since I left. The security system I installed is still intact. It appears no one was here, not even Enoshima or the other remnants. Even scavengers have left the place alone._

 _Nanami-san thanked me for out trip together these past four months. I told her she was welcome._

 **Day 365**

 _It's been exactly one year since the subject awoke. Nanami-san shows no signs of wanting to leave the facility. With as many games and stations as we brought back from around the world, she is complacent in her actions. Thanks to our trip, she has adapted to life outside. I've ceased the injections and created an array of medicines in case she does fall ill. Her body is as healthy as a normal human being's. The life which had hung by a thread over a year ago now seems to be back to its old self, minus the memory blocks._

 _I've thought about returning Nanami-san's memory to her, it would be easy, but I've decided against it. While it would be a simple matter of altering certain brain patterns—like flipping the switch on a flag on a computer file—I feel the trauma of sudden remembrance would end our cozy life together. Nanami-san would demand we "save her classmates" when they are beyond her reach._

 _If she remembers on her own, that's fine, but I have no intention of returning her memory to her myself at this time._

 **Day 380**

 _Enoshima texted me. She wants me to use my talents to cause despair to the world and interfere with the Future Foundation. She's disappointed that I've not shown up on the news at all in comparison to my so-called classmates. It seems she is not aware of Nanami-san. To confirm this I asked what she knew of my current living arrangements. Living in isolation with her class seems to have left Enoshima with little in the ways of information gathering aside from the news. How fortunate for me._

 **Day 400**

 _I disobeyed Enoshima to the best extent that I could. I managed to make things look worse than they were. My purpose is to observe, not to act. I caught the attention of Future Foundation by assaulting their members and appearing on the scene of a crime caused by one of the Remnants. I killed no one. My presence causes Future Foundation distress. It seems that that is enough. Even Enoshima is unaware that my actions are a media fabrication. But, of course, in isolation, she only knows what I tell her._

 **Day 500**

 _Nanami-san has made remarkable progress in the amount of games she has been able to complete since we returned home._

… _Is this…home? Do I consider this home? Calling this place home…seems so natural. Her…and me. This building has been our shelter for more than a year. I suppose you could call it nothing less than home._

 **Day 550**

 _I began work on a new experiment. I have predictions for how everything will play out for Enoshima's plans over the next couple of years. I've also done extensive background research on the other Remnants and Class 78. I find this all so tedious. Most of them, despite being such talented individuals, have typical behavioral patterns and personality quirks. I can even see where the despair begins and ends with the Remnants. I am able to tell exactly what they used to be like when they were students._

 _I made certain to make all of my observations in secret. My skills as the Ultimate Spy, Ninja, Assassin and Soldier allowed me to remain undetected even from a point blank distance._

 _The only Remnant that hasn't changed very much is Komaeda from what I can tell. I texted Enoshima for a file detailing information on what she thought of her own class, since it's impossible for me to observe them myself. I told her to spare no detail._

 _She asked me, "Why do you care?"_

 _I answered, "I want to know what you know."_

 _She then gave me a death threat with a smiley face emoji. Her way of showing affection I suppose. Nevertheless, she sent me an entire document before the day was over. I'll read it tomorrow._

 **Day 551**

 _I find Enoshima's class almost as boring as the other Remnants. The only one with any erratic behavioral patterns appears to be Class 78's Lucky Student, Makoto Naegi. Junko's own notes peaked my interest, stating that it was possible that he might be the one to ultimately undo her plan. She listed the probability as 0.00001%. I happen to like those odds. She also gave me survivability rates for each of her classmates regarding the mutual killing game she was planning. I have to wonder why she lists her sister, Mukuro Ikusaba, as 0%._

 **Day 560**

 _I began work on a new experiment. I want to see if it's possible to make an Alter Ego, as described in Enoshima's notes about Chihiro Fujisaki, of Enoshima herself. The challenge interests me. Of course, to perfect said AI, I will have to keep talking to Enoshima._

 _I must keep this experiment a secret from Nanami-san. I don't think she would do well to be exposed to it, given what the real thing caused her._

 **Day 600**

 _Nanami-san is too distracted by her videogames to pay much attention to my experiment, which is now complete. The AI is fully built and acts just as erratically and despairingly as Junko herself. Now I have to test it to make it less like an AI and more like Junko._

 **Day 640**

 _Junko sent me details about the Towa Corporation's Monokuma. Remnant of Despair, Kazuichi Soda, has made great modifications to produce various versions of the murderous robot. I asked her "why a bear design?" Her answer was "Why not?" followed shortly by "Bears are marketable." I must say, for being as annoying as she is, I find my inability to understand Enoshima to my liking._

 **Day 660**

 _I thought about appearing before the Future Foundation today. I thought about putting an end to all of Enoshima's machinations by breaking into the school and stopping everything while I still can._

 _But it's far too easy and the results are far too predictable. I started to wonder if Hope is truly as boring as Enoshima said it was, but then I remembered all I've done with Nanami-san and how much unpredictability that's brought into my life. Perhaps it is not Hope or Despair that are more unpredictable than the other, perhaps it is the challenge itself that is unpredictable depending on the person that undergoes it. In that case, I simply need to create a scenario where an Ultimate Despair collides with an Ultimate Hope._

 _Ultimate Hope…I believe that was my originally intended purpose. Hmmm…_

 **Day 700**

 _Alter Ego AI Junko Enoshima—AI Junko for short—has shown remarkable progress as a program and doubles as a virus. She continues to grow and evolve in a way that is completely unpredictable, much like the real thing. I wanted to have the AI counterpart talk to the real thing to see what would happen, but Enoshima is nearing the final stages of her plan to begin her mutual killing game. It appears I will have to wait before I can begin this test._

 **Day 725**

 _The Mutual Killing game began at Hope's Peak Academy and Enoshima is broadcasting it to the world. I've suggested to Nanami-san not to enter my private quarters without my permission. I've removed the ability for her television to receive satellite and cable feed. It's only good for playing video games in its current state. Nanami-san doesn't seem to care much._

 **Day 775**

 _Enoshima Junko is dead._

 **End of Chapter 3**

* * *

 **(A/N: Ahhhhhh, no four words ever rang sweeter. I tried my best to keep what I thought was in character for Izuru and his "all talents" personality. I'm sorry for those of you disappointed in the idea that he and Chiaki never had sex, but given their personal interests, I didn't see that as happening. Next chapter will be just as short as these last three, but like this one, it's going to be very unorthodox compared to the first two. And it's already posted, so enjoy, but feel free to take a break if it pleases you).**


	4. From the Mind of Chiaki Nanami

**(A/N: …)**

* * *

 **Two Days After the Death of Junko Enoshima**

My name is Chiaki Nanami…I think. I'm a former student of Hope's Peak Academy and had the title of Ultimate Gamer…probably. Truth be told, I don't remember much about myself very much. Everything I know about me was told to me by Hinata…sorry, Kamakura-kun. I don't believe he's lying to me. Everything he has said about me appears to be the truth…I think.

I must have known him before I lost my memory, otherwise why would he know so much about me? However, he does not know everything and he has never told me how we met. He acts as if he doesn't want to tell me. I feel he will tell me eventually, but it does hurt to know he's keeping secrets from me.

I used to call Kamakura-kun, Master, but that was back when I was a simple experiment it would seem. Kamakura-kun hasn't exactly told me the details of why I woke up in this building, naked, with no one else but him for company. He seems evasive a lot of the times, distant even. But…he's been good to me and I don't want to betray that trust. Yes, I do believe I can trust Kamakura-kun.

So then why, on occasion, do I sometimes refer to him as Hinata-kun? Who is Hinata-kun, anyway? I try to remember, but the memories won't come back. I know for a fact that my master turned friend is named Izuru Kamakura. …Does Kamakura-kun resemble Hinata-kun in some way? Does master know Hinata-kun? I often find myself asking these questions, but not to Kamakura-kun.

In spite of everything, I've enjoyed these past two years with Kamakura-kun. I've gotten to play a lot of video games that I never would have been able to if not for him. The trip we took around the world was a lot of fun too. …I just wish the world wasn't in the state that it was.

I can still recall vague memories of my childhood and I know that the world didn't use to be like this. How did it get this way? Who made it this way? I get the feeling Kamakura-kun knows more than he's letting on. Is he responsible? I don't think he is, but this doubt inside me won't go away.

Video games are my only distraction and escapism from the world around me, just as they were when I was little…I think. I sometimes recall my mom being inattentive towards me. She and my dad would argue…a lot…I think. It's hard to remember things about myself from before I woke up here. Fortunately, Kamakura-kun has told me that I'm not part of some sort of fantasy or sci-fi clone plot that I've seen in a lot of video games. That by itself is very reassuring.

Kamakura-kun has been going out a lot more than usual. He comes back after a few days. The longest he ever left me alone was forty days. I was so engrossed in my games I hardly noticed. But he always comes back. I get the feeling Kamakura-kun can't or won't abandon me…probably. There's always a possibility, but I try not to think about it.

He's chained me to the floor for my own safety before, but he hasn't done that in over a year. I can see now that Kamakura-kun cares a lot about me. I must mean a lot to him…probably. I'm not certain what exactly I mean to Kamakura-kun.

Kamakura-kun spends a lot of time in his room or outside, where I'm not supposed to go without his permission. In spite of that though, he's always writing down things in a notebook. And he _never_ smiles. He always talks with a deadpan tone and considers a lot of the world boring. He says he has every talent possible, that he's an experiment from Hope's Peak Academy. I wonder how much of that is actually true.

I want to see Kamakura-kun smile. That's why I always welcome him home with a smile and a hug and why I volunteer to do nice things for him. Although, I wonder how much of that he actually appreciates. I wonder if I'm simply making things worse.

Right now though, Kamakura-kun just returned from one of his trips. He looks as surly as ever. He's clutching a hard drive in his hand.

"Welcome home, Kamakura-kun," I say to him and throw my arms around him.

"Hello, Nanami-san," Kamakura-kun says and waits until I let go of him. He never hugs me back. I wonder if he's simply incapable of showing genuine affection. He walks towards his private quarters as he proceeds down the hall. Halfway down, he stops and turns to look at me.

"I will be going away for a while again," Kamakura-kun says to me.

"Again? But you just got back," I say to him.

"It's important," Kamakura-kun says. "And…this may be the final time you will see me as I am now." Kamakura-kun stops looking at me and looks straight ahead. "Nanami-san…I think Hinata-kun might be visiting you soon."

 _Eh?_

"Nanami-san…if you could be with me or Hinata-kun…who would you want to be with?"

"You're making me choose?" I ask.

"You must."

I puffed out my cheeks. "That's not fair, Kamakura-kun. I can't make a choice like that, especially when I've never met Hinata-kun."

"Are you saying you pick me then?" Kamakura-kun asks me. "I might not be able to see you anymore once I leave again…and you cannot come with me. If I have to, I will chain you up again.

"But…" I say with a worried look on your face. "If that's the case…then don't leave."

"I have to," Kamakura-kun says. "It's for the sake of hope."

"But…"

"Please do not argue."

I puffed out my cheeks again. Kamakura-kun was being unreasonable as he sometimes could be. He stood idly by, waiting for me to give him an actual answer to his question. I thought about it for a moment. And, after a bit of time, I could only think of a single answer. Smiling warmly at Kamakura-kun, I said, "I don't think you'll disappear, Kamakura-kun. I think…that you _and_ Hinata-kun will come back to me."

Kamakura-kun turns to face me. I study his face carefully and was surprised to see, of all things, a smile. It wasn't a large one, but a small, acute upward turn of the lips. For the first time since I'd known him, Kamakura-kun was smiling.

"That answer is very "you", Nanami-san," he says.

I wanted to ask Kamakura-kun what that was supposed to mean, but I was so taken aback by the fact that he said it with a smile that I couldn't utter a single sound. Was Kamakura-kun happy? What had I said or done to make him smile, even so slightly. I just stood there, confused. I stood in a daze, unable to move, think or speak. I was frozen until Kamakura-kun had walked into his room and walked back out and then approached me. And then, he did something else he'd never done to me. He hugged me.

"I don't know how long I will be gone," he tells me. "But…it will likely be more than a hundred days. I'm arming the security system to full alert once I leave. Do not leave the building. I'm doing this to protect you."

"Master, what's going on?" I call Kamakura-kun master without meaning to. The words just slipped out. I was starting to feel frightened.

"A day I have been planning for over the last two years," he tells me. "I will return, Nanami-san," Kamakura-kun put something in my hand, "I promise."

I looked at what was in my hand. It was a silver-plated Galaga hairpin. For some reason, I started to cry. Tears started flooding down my face at an alarming rate. "No…" I say and then hug Kamakura-kun tightly. "No! Don't go! Don't leave!"

"For the sake of your hope, I must," he tells me. "If you let me go…I promise to tell you everything."

I stop crying and look up at him. Kamakura-kun didn't appear to be lying, but it was always hard to read his expression.

"There are a lot of things I haven't told you…but I promise to tell you them, but only if you let me go. I may not explain everything to you the moment I return, but when I return, you can know that I will return your memory to you within a reasonable amount of time."

"Did you…take my memory?" I ask him.

"No," he says, "You did."

I stare at him blankly, not understanding the meaning behind his words.

He caresses my head. "Your amnesia is self-induced," he says. "You suffered a very traumatic event before you woke up and I have cared for you since. I promise that I will tell you everything else when I return, but for now…you must let me go."

I snuggle into Kamakura-kun's embrace. "Okay," I tell him.

"Then you need to let go of me."

I had a hard time letting Kamakura-kun go. He was so warm and his body was so hard and rigid. It was comfortable. But…now was not the time to fall asleep. If I fell asleep now, I would wake up and Kamakura-kun would no longer be here. So, before I fell asleep, I had to do one last thing, the last thing I had to tell Kamakura-kun before he left.

"Kamakura-kun," I say to him, looking him in the eyes. A pit formed in my stomach and my face flushed as I utter three words, "I like you." I close my eyes and stand on my tip toes. Our lips meet, but only briefly. Afterwards, I snuggle into Kamakura-kun's chest.

"I absolutely will return to you…Chiaki," he tells me.

"I know you will…Hajime," I reply without realizing what I said. I had no time to think on my words either. I simply fell asleep in Master's arms. When I awoke, he was gone, as I expected. But he would be back. He always comes back and when he returned, he would tell me everything. And I _know_ he would…because he promised.

 **End of Chapter 4**

* * *

 **(A/N: I think I just contracted diabetes. Er, anyway, I'm hoping next chapter will be the last installment, but I'm not entirely sure. Either way, please enjoy the story as it races towards its conclusion).**


	5. New Beginnings

**(A/N: …)**

* * *

 **Three Days After the Final Killing Game**

Most people would think that Novoselic would be one of the first places to look for the Remnants of Despair given one of its members was titled the "Ultimate Princess". However, during The Tragedy, most of the country was obliterated in a blood purge by said Ultimate Princess who usurped it in the name of despair.

Now, in a broken country and kingdom, Sonia and the others used her castle as a secret headquarters for future operations for Class 77-B of Hope's Peak Academy. They had taken the rap sheet for the Final Killing Game, but things could not stay that way. They could not idle themselves like this and Novoselic's borders could not remain closed forever. At the very least, the group worked together to destroy all of the Monokuma robots across the tiny county.

It had been a lot of work in just the last twenty-four hours and it would be a continued hassle to destroy any Monokumas that continued to roam the tiny, island nation.

Sonia Nevermind now stood in front of the window to the royal corridor of the Novoselic throne room. She felt disgusted with herself of the sins she had committed under the influence of despair. Her people would never trust her again, _could not_ trust her again…because the dead do not hold opinions or grudges.

Simply being in the throne room made Sonia's stomach churn. She wondered if she could even stand to stay in this castle given the sad memories it would bring. Burned pictures of her ancestors, the scent of blood everywhere. No maids, no servants. It was a big castle and an even bigger country for one, small, blonde former high schooler to live in.

She was not alone, but that far from mattered. She couldn't even say that this was "her sin to bear". She'd been completely brainwashed. She was not herself. But…she had to endure it. She was still the Ultimate Princess and, to her, she still had countrymen: her friends. Together, they could start by rebuilding Novoselic and turning it into a small country of hope. The world would be ready for the truth one day and they knew they could count on Makoto Naegi to tell it to them. Thanks to Ryota Mitarai and Hajime, they at least had two people who didn't _look_ like the wanted criminals of the Remnants of Despair. The group could use Ryota as a face to their organization, which, Sonia realized, still needed a name.

As she looked out the window, watching battles unfold as Monokuma's were torn to shreds by her friends, she heard footsteps come from down the entrance side of the corridor. Sonia turned her body to see a familiar head of brown hair heading towards her that sat atop the head of a young gentleman that she had come to trust far more greatly than most of her comrades.

"Ah, Hajime, you're back awfully fast. Did you clear your section already?"

"Y-yeah. It was…surprisingly easy," Hajime said, rubbing the back of his head. The young man still hadn't become quite acquainted with his talents as Izuru Kamakura. Everything felt like an instinct that he'd simply acquired. The world seemed to move in slow motion when he wanted to accomplish something, his wide array of talents open to him in his mind like an endlessly branching tree. To him, it still felt weird.

"I guess being the Ultimate Everything comes in handy at times like this," Sonia said with a smile.

Hajime looked to the side. "But it was those same abilities that got us all into this mess. If I just hadn't been so damn insistent. If I hadn't put my parents in so much debt…"

"Hajime," Sonia said crossly, "It was those same abilities that let you save everyone and the world." She did not want him to feel guilty when he hadn't done any wrong.

"It was also those same abilities that let the world crumble!" Hajime shouted. He looked at his hand. "My mind's been merging with Izuru, slowly, since we came out of the Neo World Program. For so much time I simply stalled, and for _what_?" Hajime clenched his teeth, balled a fist and shut his eyes. "I can't turn my eyes from the truth, but these abilities turned me into nothing more than a bored observer. I could have stopped Junko if I wanted to! I could have prevented all of this!"

"You don't know that," Sonia exclaimed, pleadingly.

"Yes, I do!" Hajime barked back, surprising her. Hajime looked solemn. "You have no idea what it's like to be me now. It's like it's not even my own body. All this information that I can just access…it's weird and…accessing Izuru's memories…it's strange."

"I thought you liked what you've become."

"I do…and I don't," Hajime answered with a sigh. "When we first left Jabberwock Island, I was just pushing myself forward towards a future filled with hope, but…now that I have time to stop and think about everything…the more I wish I'd never become Izuru Kamakura in the first place." Hajime clenched his eyes shut. "Everybody got hurt…because I was selfish and insecure. And I've learned my lesson," Hajime sighed, "three years too late."

"You are far stronger than you give yourself credit for, Hajime," Sonia said seriously. "You guided us all through that deadly game when the Neo World Program was infected."

"An infection I caused!" Hajime reminded her.

"And then who was it that removed the virus, managed to recover everyone's deleted avatars _from scratch_ , and relaunch the Neo World Program, this time, saving all of us? You and I would still be standing here even if that had not happened, but what about Mikan, Peko, Nekomaru, Gundham, Hiyoko, Ibuki, Teruteru, Byakuya, Mahiru, and Nagito? They would not be standing here if you had not helped them. You even set aside your grudge against Nagito, a grudge we all had, to save his _life_!"

The last three words Sonia said struck a chord in Hajime. He spaced out for a moment, wondering why her words rang so strongly within him. He continued to listen to Sonia's speech.

"You even managed to perform surgery on Nagito that none of us thought possible. You managed to stagnate his symptoms of dementia to slow them down to a crawl. You even built him a robotic hand on the spot, in seconds with nothing, but a box of scrap metal and improvised tools. You. Are. A Hero. Hajime!"

Hajime had no reply. He simply listened to Sonia's words.

Sonia looked out the window. "It is impossible to change the past. You were not there when we all decided to go rescue Miss Yukizome and walked right into Junko Enoshima's trap. Now I awake from slumber and I feel like I'm still living a nightmare. My family is dead. My countrymen are dead and the land we live upon is nothing short of barren. We are working hard to repair this country little by little, but it will take time and generations. And…I could do nothing to stop it." Sonia looked at Hajime seriously. "We all make choices that we think will bring us to a bright future. We wanted to help Miss Yukizome. You wanted to help us and then you motivated us all to help us help Ryota. You are our friend, Hajime, even if you did not start out that way."

Sonia was right. Even if Hajime wanted to beat himself up over everything, Sonia was right. He was not to blame. His inaction might've let Junko continue with her plans, but he did not, in fact, cause them. Junko was the one really at fault here. Her actions threw the world into chaos and no one predicted just how crazy and depraved she truly was. Despair, in the end, was truly a chaotic storm of unpredictability.

Hajime remembered how he, Sonia, Akane, Kazuichi, and Fuyuhiko, had come out of the Neo World Program with everything intact, thanks to Hajime literally hijacking the entire program through sheer force of will. Later, he figured out that Izuru's consciousness had been within the Neo World Program the entire time, monitoring the situation, watching his other half fight bravely in the face of despair. Izuru had complete control over the program through his talents, but chose not to act, merely to watch.

When he and Hajime had merged into one being, Hajime became aware of Izuru's sense of self and what he thought, but Izuru was content to let Hajime drive this body inhabited by two minds. That way, Hajime could live without becoming bored and Izuru could continue to be entertained by the unknown. Hope or Despair. No matter what Hajime chose, Izuru simply let him do as he pleased. He acted only when Hajime made use of the talents that both of them now possessed, granting Hajime access to the abilities that were infused within them.

Such had been the case when the first thing Hajime wanted to do was help those that AI Junko had said were beyond help. He wanted to prove her wrong. Mikan's avatar was the easiest to recover. By contracting the despair disease, it had left her avatar mostly intact, a result of being able to separate reality from virtual reality much easier. The same went for Nagito, who had learned the truth before his self-assisted suicide.

With patience, determination, talent and an unyielding hope that everything would turn out okay, Hajime recovered each and every deleted avatar and then convinced his friends to go back into the Neo World Program with him. He made sure to effectively damage his own virus, preventing another tragedy from occurring. After a quick relaunch, everyone came out okay that time and they all remembered those fifty days spent in cyberspace. And with Hajime's newfound powers and memories, he was able to add more than that: their school memories. The entire tragedy as it had played out was still fresh in the minds of his new friends, but without any traces of the brainwashing. Hajime made _certain_ of that.

Now, his only wish, or regret, was that he could not save Chiaki. He had heard about it from his comrades that Chiaki's death had been what had broken them all and caused them to fall into despair.

Hajime took the Galaga hairpin out of his pocket. It was the only thing he had left to remember Chiaki by. He would never again hear her voice or see her smile or…

As Hajime looked at the hairpin, his mind suddenly spliced the scene of Chiaki's dead body in front of him. He started to sweat as his jaw dropped open. That's right. He had been there, no…not him, Izuru.

More memories started to come to the forefront of Hajime's mind as he gasped for air from this sudden realization. Tears appeared as he remembered something very important.

"She's alive."

"Hajime?" Sonia called to him, sounding confused.

"Haha…Hahahahahaha!" Hajime laughed ecstatically. "Sonia, I have to go!"

"Go? Where are you going?" Sonia asked only to watch as Hajime ran down the hall.

"To get Chiaki back!" Hajime shouted.

He could feel Izuru's memories flooding into him. He'd been with her all this time and she with him. Izuru had saved her when he, Hajime, could not. Chiaki was alive waiting for him at the place they called home. And now, he had just the thing to bring her back.

As once speculated by scholars, the human mind and a computer aren't that much different from each other. Chiaki's AI, created by Alter Ego, could more easily fill in the missing gaps in Chiaki's memories without causing a rude awakening if Hajime had simply forcibly undone her retrograde amnesia. Sure, both things were still neuroscience, but this was less fiddling with neurological impulses and more fixing Chiaki's memory with something akin to neurological therapy. A reconstruction therapy, as it were.

Using his Ultimate Pilot talent, Hajime flew a plane straight back to Jabberwock Island to retrieve the AI version of Chiaki. He and his comrades had planned to go back there to retrieve it eventually once everything quieted down, but Hajime had no time to waste. It took him only as fast as the computer could copy the data for the AI to get it onto a thumb drive. Then he jumped back into the plane and flew it back to Japan as fast as the engine could carry him.

Stepping off the landing strip, Hajime ran across town to find an abandoned car with the keys still in the ignition. Hajime drove it straight home.

Yes, home. The two-floor building that he and Chiaki and lived in together for over two years, where he had made many memories with her, memories that, until now, he had completely forgotten, a side effect of the Neo World Program most likely. Hajime parked the car a bit down the block and then stepped onto the property where the security system was now armed. Hajime took a deep breath and then let Izuru take control.

Gun turrets sprang out of the ground firing wildly, but Izuru darted forward, shutting them off one by one. Spike traps jutted out from underneath the ground, but Izuru dodged each and every jutting group of spikes with perfect precision, avoiding other traps like his hidden sniper rifle in the nearby building, a flamethrower he'd devised and a few laser guns he'd built on the first floor to respond to light and movement.

Overkill? Perhaps. But it was all Hajime could think of that he felt would keep out both Mukuro _and_ Junko if both of them came snooping around when he didn't want them. Only he could disable this security system when it was fully and indiscriminately armed.

As Hajime made it halfway to the front door, he knew that a car bomb was ticking beneath the ground that was set to go off if the security system was not disabled within the span of only twenty seconds. Hajime knew where the panel was hidden on the ground and _surrounded_ by spike traps. Leaping over the spikes and landing in between them as they retracted into the floor, Hajime flipped open the false ground and input the key code to deactivate almost the entire security system.

The almost was because his fast reflexes were the only thing that would then be able to dodge the missile fired from the homemade rocket launcher embedded in the wall opposite the now open electronic door. When the rocket missed Hajime completely and exploded the large metal storage container behind him that sat in front of the property. It exploded with a boom when the missile hit and Hajime casually walked in the front door.

"System disarmed," a voice echoed on the first floor. "Retna scan complete. Welcome home, Master Izuru."

Hajime then turned around and watched all of the spike traps recede into the ground and the gun turrets collapse back under the surface. As the adrenaline rush left him, Hajime clasped his hands to his hair, extended his arms out in exasperation and exclaimed, "WHAT THE FUCK DID I BUILD?"

Taking a deep breath, Hajime headed up the stairs and resumed his primary mission, getting Chiaki. When he finally reached the top of the stairs, he saw Chiaki collapsed on the ground, her head next to a paper plate and…oh god no.

Hajime rushed over to Chiaki where red stuff was pouring out of her mouth and the side of her head. However, further inspection revealed that it was _praise be whatever deity ruled this realm_ only ketchup.

Chiaki had been eating a hamburger she cooked for herself and had promptly fallen asleep, passing out and not caring that her hair landed in the ketchup.

"Chiaki," Hajime shook her. "Hey, open your eyes!"

Chiaki's eyes opened and adjusted to the dim lighting and Hajime looming over her. "Hinata-kun?" she mumbled only to turn over in his embrace. "Five more minutes."

Hajime just stared blankly at her, not sure how to respond to her blah response to his presence.

However, two seconds later, Chiaki bolted upright. "EH? Hinata-kun?!"

"Hey, Chiaki. I—" Hajime was cut off by Chiaki throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"You came back," Chiaki sniffed. "You said you would and you finally did. Kamakura-kun…"

Izuru's personality stepped in for a moment, putting his arms around Chiaki. "Yeah, just like I promised, Chiaki." He told her. "But…I'm not the only one here now. Hajime Hinata, your Hinata-kun, is here with me."

"Eh?"

"It is…difficult to explain," Izuru said. "Hajime and I are the same person. He's the one that remembers you. We did not know each other before you woke up. The two of you did. But…you've become very important to me these last couple of years." Izuru held Chiaki at an arm's distance so she could look at him in the face. "And I did everything in my power after I left to return Hajime to you. And I promise…that if you still want me around that you can have me, but…this is his life and he should be the one you get to be happy with."

"I…don't understand," Chiaki said, confused.

"You will eventually," Izuru said, and stood, helping Chiaki to her feet by her hand with his hand. "Now, come along, we have something we need to do." He then looked at the ketchup in Chiaki's hair. "Although…maybe you should shower first."

* * *

When Chiaki had properly showered and changed clothes, she soon found herself lying on her back hooked up to a very familiar machine. It was the same machine Izuru had had her hooked up to when she first woke up, a machine that he'd used to monitor her brain waves and check her vitals…and whenever he performed experiments or the one time he performed surgery.

Chiaki knew he procedure by now. She lay flat on her back and did not move a muscle. Hajime then hooked up a mask to her mouth and nose and pumped it full of a gentle anesthetic. As Chiaki felt sleepy, she noticed Hajime sitting down next to her. Yes, Hajime, not Izuru. She could tell by the kind look in his eyes, that this was Izuru's other self, the one she kept referring to as Hinata-kun. She also knew because Izuru was never gentle with her, always professional.

Hajime caressed Chiaki's arm, "Are you comfortable?" he asked her.

"Yes," Chiaki said. "And…very sleepy."

Hajime smiled at her. "When you wake up, you should be back to your old self again. You should be able to remember everything."

"Are you sure?" Chiaki asked.

"Yes," Hajime answered. "And everyone can't wait to see you again. They don't even know that you're still alive."

Chiaki took Hajime's words at face value. "Am I supposed to be dead?"

"No one is supposed to be dead," he told her as he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Now go to sleep, I promise you will feel much better when you wake up."

"Okay," Chiaki said and just tilted her head to one side and let the anesthetic knock her out.

 **End of Chapter 5**

* * *

 **(A/N: Okay, so I lied, one more chapter, but it's Danganronpa, there are always six chapters XD. I don't want to say what's rattling in my head right now. I think it's best if you just hop on over to the very last chapter of this therapeutic fanfic).**


	6. Reconstruction Complete

**(A/N: …)**

* * *

 **Unknown Time**

 **Unknown Location**

When Chiaki next woke up, it was not to the surroundings of the place she had called home, but to an empty classroom: Classroom 1-B of Hope's Peak Academy. Wait, how did she know that?

"Oh, that's right, I'm a student here," Chiaki said, "But…where is everybody?"

Chiaki got up from her desk and exited the classroom. She then walked through the strangely empty school building. "There's no one here," Chiaki thought aloud. "But why?"

As she walked around for a little more, she then remembered. This was the old building. She and her classmates were supposed to be in the new building. No sooner had she thought that, the background suddenly changed and Chiaki was taking her head off her desk again as she awoke with a jolt. All around her, fuzzy silhouettes of pink and blue surrounded her desk. There was someone up at the front of the board giving a lesson, but Chiaki couldn't make out their details.

"This is…my classroom," Chiaki said. "But where are…?" She looked around the room. Every seat was full, except for one. "Ah, that's right! Mitarai-kun's always absent and in his place…" As Chiaki trailed off, the Ultimate Imposter suddenly became a fully-visible figure wearing Ryota Mitarai's face and clothes.

Chiaki looked at the other members of her class that were still alien to her. She could not remember their names or faces and she could not hear their voices. Bored, Chiaki took out her Game Girl Advance and began playing it. It was a game she had beaten fifty times over.

"Boring," she muttered. "But…why?"

 _Because I'm not playing with my friends._

The scene changed again and Chiaki was brought to a scene where she had set up a large 16k resolution TV monitor in the classroom and everyone was gathered around playing on her game station.

"Ah…AH!"

A large light bulb went off in Chiaki's head as she suddenly remembered practically her entire class. She remembered this day. She remembered this party and the aphrodisiac that they all got infected with afterward. Teruteru, Gundham, Sonia, Hiyoko, Mikan, Mahiru, Nagito, Kazuichi, Nekomaru, Akane, Fuyuhiko, Ibuki, and Peko, those were the names of her classmates. She remembered them all. Yes, those were her classmates, her friends. So then…where was Hajime?

As Chiaki's consciousness seemed to split from the scene in her memory, she strolled over to the boarded up window where Akane and Nekmaru had made a huge hole in the wall. Hajime was on the other side of that wall. Chiaki pulled on one of the boards. It was nailed down tight.

The memory surrounding Chiaki sprung to life as Kazuichi noticed her tugging on the wall. "H-hey, what are you doing? You're going to hurt yourself."

"I have to get outside. Hajime…" Chiaki grunted as she pulled on the board, "Needs me!"

"Hajime…who's Hajime?"

"Ah…" How could her classmate not know who Hajime was? No, that's right, her classmates shouldn't know who Hajime was…only she had ever met Hajime. She and…

The next thing Chiaki knew a dark wave of dread washed over her. She was in a cage, an elevator heading down and the face of a person she trusted, her teacher, her eyes swirling like a hypnotic spiral.

Chiaki felt herself falling down a well and began to panic knowing that a pit of deadly spikes waited for her at the bottom, but as she braced for impact and death, she had an epiphany as she remembered _everything_.

She remembered psyching up her classmates, leading them to where Yukizome had been kidnapped. She remembered Mikan pushing her through a wall. Both Mikan and Yukizome had betrayed her, forced her to walk a game of death that led her straight to—

Chiaki gasped when she remembered her own death. Dead…she was definitely supposed to be dead. Injuries like that…how could she be alive?

She remembered her own last words. "I don't want to die." She wanted Izuru to remember her. She wanted Izuru to remember himself. Had he remembered? Moments before her death, had he remembered? Had he saved her? Is that why she was alive? Had her hope been so strong that it had literally saved her life?

Chiaki suddenly felt like she was drowning in an ocean of black water. She could see bubbles floating above her mouth, but she was breathing.

A single light was sitting upon the surface, floating above the water's waves. Puffing her cheeks, Chiaki swam up to it, but the light just seemed so far away. Chiaki did not give up though and kept swimming towards the light. Eventually a hand reached down and pulled her up to the surface, only for Chiaki to find herself standing on the shores of Jabberwock Island. More importantly, she had come face to face…with herself.

The color of her hair was a bit paler than her real hair color and she was wearing a dark hoodie over her school uniform as opposed to the brown one she preferred, but it was definitely herself that she was staring at.

"Who…are you?" Chiaki asked.

"I'm you…I think," her doppelganger replied. It even sounded like her.

"I…don't understand," Chiaki said.

"Walk with me," her doppelganger told her. Chiaki complied and walked alongside her doppelganger across the beach and towards a hotel resort, passing a market and an airport along the way.

"We're in your head, or rather…our thoughts are being mixed together."

"I still don't understand," Chiaki said. "What exactly is going on?"

"You lost your memory after your near death experience," her doppelganger explained. "Well…it was a closer to death experience than most. Quite frankly, if not for Izuru-sama, you would not have survived."

"Who is…Izuru?" Chiaki asked.

"Didn't you remember everything? I wasn't supposed to interact with you until you got your memory back."

It then hit Chiaki. "Ah, Hajime's other self."

"Yes, Izuru Kamakura, my…well I guess he's sort of like a creator. My original creator, Chihiro Fujisaki, created the basis for my program. You may call me Alter Ego." Alter Ego then explained to Chiaki how she came to take her form. She explained about the Neo World Program and how her classmates all wanted to see her again, which helped Alter Ego itself create a personality for everyone to interact with. How Izuru had modified her programming and brought her to this facility with the proper knowledge needed to fix Chiaki.

"…But a program is only that…a program." Alter Ego said, looking solemnly at the sandy ground. "These…should be your happy memories. You should have been the one to stand by your classmates, even through the worst of it all."

"Worst?" Chiaki asked. She then remembered what Izuru had told her and shown her about the state of the world and the damage that had been done to it.

Alter Ego grabbed Chiaki's temples and put her forehead against hers. "I will share my knowledge with you, Chiaki. Hajime created this program so that I could give you the knowledge you need to understand everything that happened while you did not have your memory, why he could not simply give you back your memory. Or rather…why he didn't want to."

"What do you mean?" Chiaki asked.

The background of the sandy beach and everything on it faded and Chiaki and Alter Ego were now standing in a black void. "I am more than just a therapeutic computer program. I am an ever evolving AI. I have knowledge of everything that was ever taught to me, including things that are unknown to you. But I can share that knowledge. It was what Izuru-sama asked me to do when he copied my data from the Neo World Program and modified me for his purposes."

"Izuru…did that?" Chiaki's memory was currently without the two years she'd spent with Hajime's other self so her knowledge of Izuru was limited.

"Well...it is likely that Hajime-sama influenced him, but I probably shouldn't talk about Hajime-sama as though he is another entity. They are both Izuru-sama after all."

That's right, Chiaki remembered. Izuru had said as much that he and Chiaki were the same…

She remembered. She remembered those two years. It was completely coming back to her now. Izuru had taken such good care of her with Hajime unable to do little more than be a footnote in Izuru's brain. But now, it seemed, Hajime had come back and he wanted Chiaki to do the same.

"Are you ready?" Alter Ego asked her.

"Wait," Chiaki said. "I…I still…" she paused and then admitted. "I'm scared."

"I imagine you might be. The unknown is always scary, but…" Alter Ego lifted her head off of Chiaki and smiled at her. "As long as you are filled with hope and look towards the future, you can make the unknown not so bad…probably."

Chiaki smiled. Alter Ego's current state was definitely a convincing version of herself. She had nothing to fear. "Okay," she said. "I'm ready."

* * *

Back in the real world, Hajime monitored Chiaki properly, waiting for her to awaken. The readings he was getting were good. It still boggled his mind that he understood all of these wavy lines and flashing lights. He couldn't even see what was going on in Chiaki's head the way she could. His program was not as flashy or as state of the art as the Neo World Program. It wasn't meant to be anyway.

Hajime had already removed the anesthetic from Chiaki once she was unconscious. The fiddling he was doing with her brain patterns, with alter ego's help, would keep Chiaki asleep until she was ready to wake her up.

Hajime continued to monitor the program and machine he was working with until he was certain that Alter Ego had given Chiaki the information she needed to understand exactly what had happened. She needed to know what had become of her classmates. She needed to understand why he, as Izuru, hadn't helped her earlier. She needed to know that she hadn't been betrayed, that Junko had victimized Yukizome and Mikan before she and her class had set foot in that facility together.

Hajime worried of what Chiaki would think. Would she still be herself when she woke up? Would she still want to be around him? Would she want to be with her friends?

Well, he'd have his answers soon enough. Alter Ego had finished its program and all that was left was to wake Chiaki up with a simple jolt to a specific neural synapse.

Chiaki woke up on the operating table, the electrodes connected to her brain coming loose as Hajime remotely signaled them to disconnect from where he was sitting. "How are you feeling?"

Chiaki clutched her head. Even now, everything she had learned was a lot to take in. The Remnants of Despair, The Tragedy, even the Final Killing Game. Hajime had made Alter Ego reveal all to Chiaki. Tears splashed from her face as despair hit her like a runaway semi-truck. "It's my fault," she sobbed.

 _Uh oh,_ Hajime thought. He strode over to Chiaki. He had a feeling what was going through her head.

Tears continued to come down Chiaki's face. "It's my fault!" she exclaimed again. "If I hadn't told everyone to come with me to save Junko…none of this would have—"

Chiaki stopped when Hajime put his arms around her. "We cannot change our past, only our future. No one realized the true depravity of what Enoshima was trying to do," Hajime told her.

"Hinata-kun…"

"We never know if our decisions will lead to hope or to despair, but I don't think your decision to save your teacher was the wrong one. It was the right thing to try and do, you just didn't realize what was happening…and neither did I. If anything, I should apologize. Because of me…because I loved Hope's Peak Academy so much, I…"

Chiaki held Hajime's arm with both of her hands. "It's not your fault," she sobbed. "I'm the one who…"

Hajime held Chiaki tighter, which got her to stop crying. "It's not your fault. No one could ever blame you for trying to do the right thing. No one can be blamed for that. Even in failure there are good intentions. Even in success, there are bad ones. I've spent the last several years analyzing Junko Enoshima and the fact of the matter is that she would've just found another way to bring despair to the world, until someone finally got rid of her. We have to thank Makoto for that. No, Chiaki, if anyone should apologize, it's me…for lying to you for so long…and for forgetting you. If I had remembered you any later..." Hajime snuggled Chiaki closer to his embrace, "It definitely would have been too late."

"Hinata-kun…" Chiaki sniffed.

"I'm still Hinata-kun. I thought I was Hajime now."

Chiaki simply sniffed, sat on the exam table on her knees and kissed Hajime on the lips, her hands upon his chest.

 _This is our future now,_ Hajime thought.

 _And no one will take it away from us,_ Chiaki thought, practically finishing the sentence of what Hajime was thinking. The two were in sync for that precious moment.

When it passed, Hajime was still holding Chiaki by the hand. "We should get going. Everyone's waiting for us at Novoselic Castle."

"Are they really?" Chiaki asked.

Hajime smiled at her. "Everyone wants to see you again. I still haven't told them that you're still alive. I…" Hajime scratched his cheek. "Kind of forgot you were here." He waved his hand erratically back and forth. "I'll explain on the ride over. Now, come on, let's get your things. It's time to say goodbye to this run-down building."

"Is it really?" Chiaki asked. "But…this is our home…I think."

Hajime smiled. "If it means that much to you, we can make it a proper home when the world is back to its old self. We have a lot of work to do before then, Chiaki. Now, grab what you can and let's go and take our steps together towards a bright future."

Chiaki smiled. "Okay."

* * *

 **Epilogue**

With Chiaki in tow, Hajime returned to Novoselic. However, he didn't introduce everyone to her right away and encouraged Chiaki to make herself scarce. He wanted to surprise everyone at dinner that night.

As always, Teruteru made the food. He was more than happy to and a buffet was spread out across the royal dining hall. Sonia, as host, sat at the head of the table, as expected of her by her peers. And after everyone had gathered around the table, a resounding declaration of "Ikadimasu!" signaled the start of the meal.

Akane was the one stuffing her face the fastest and the most, tearing through plates of food like a wild, angry beast. "Hey!" Hiyoko exclaimed, who happened to be sitting next to her. "Quit slobbering everywhere! You're getting your disgusting dumbness germs on my plate, you fat ass hog!"

"Mrrf Uguf Orinugalph," Akane responded incoherently as she chewed.

Mahiru banged her spoon at the table and pointed it accusatorily at Akane. "Don't talk with food in your mouth? Were you raised in a barn?"

At the foot of the table, Hajime had yet to even take a bite or even load up his plate. He was watching and waiting and doing a head count to make sure everyone was at the table. 17 place settings, 16 people in attendance. It seemed no one had noticed the extra chair Hajime had snuck in and set up. He'd volunteered to set the table after all. And now, using his Izuru-gifted analytic ability, Hajime knew that Nagito would soon be leaning over to him and asking…

"Hey, Hajime, are you all right? Aren't you hungry?"

Perfect timing.

Hajime put his napkin on the table and stood rigidly. "Everyone, if I could have your attention please!" he declared.

Everyone stopped eating and looked at Hajime…except for Akane. She continued to chew her food, albeit quieter, but still looked at Hajime.

"You have my undivided attention," Teruteru said with a sly expression.

"Hey, if you have to take a shit, you don't have to announce it to all of us, you know," Nekomaru said.

Both comments were predictable, but amusingly predictable to Hajime. "It has nothing to do with that."

"Well don't keep us in suspense, what did you want to tell us?" Ibuki asked impatiently.

"Rather than tell, I should probably show you." Hajime said. He turned towards the slightly ajar doorway and beckoned someone waiting outside forward. Into the dining hall stepped Chiaki Nanami, breathing and unharmed and, above all else, hungry. She smiled at her classmates in silence and just waited to see what their reactions would be, as she and Hajime had planned.

There was dead, stunned silence throughout the whole room as 15 shocked faces and 29 shocked eyes stared holes at Chiaki's face.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What the fuck is this?" Fuyuhiko suddenly shouted. "Are you trying to screw with us, you bastard? I swear to god I'm going to gut you and hang you from a tree by your entrails if this is some sort of practical fucking joke to you." Hajime then saw tears coming out of Fuyuhiko's good eye. "I mean…it's gotta be a joke…right? We…we watched you die."

"I know disguises," The Ultimate Imposter said. "And that…" tears now fell from his face too, "that is not a disguise."

"A robot maybe?" Ibuki asked with genuine curiosity. "Mechanami has a nice ring to it, you know."

"I don't know," Teruteru said, fingers clutching, blood dribbling from his nose, "maybe I should…examine her to see if she's…" he licked his lips, "fully equipped."

"Or, you could let someone who's not a total sleaze ball, or, you know a _girl_ , check… _that_."

"I concur," Gundham said, already posing and with his hamsters out of his jacket. "Leave it to me! Go! My Twelve Zodiac Generals! Reveal this witch's true form!"

With squeaks of varying pitches, the twelve hamsters leapt from Gundham's apparel and onto Chiaki's body, poking at her legs, cheeks and shoulders.

Chiaki began to twitch involuntarily and laughed. "It tickles," she said.

Gundham's mouth dropped wide open. "By the old gods, this cannot be! No machine, including the great Deus can be…ticklish!"

"So then…that's really Nanami?" Ibuki asked.

"That's what it seems like," Sonia said, as confused as everyone else.

"B-b-b-but w-w-we a-a-all watched get s-stabbed! W-with that many wounds a-anyone would be killed easily."

"I'd sake that's true, usually," Nagito said with his usual unnerving calmness.

"Usually? I'd say more like definitely," Mahiru stated snappily.

"And yet," Nagito said with a bright smile. "Here's our class rep in the flesh without a wound on her body."

"It's a trick! It's gotta be a trick! Or she faked her death…or something!" Kazuichi exclaimed.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say she faked what we saw happen to her, but I'm willing to wager she's got some guardian angel," Nagito said and then folded his arms, looking at Hajime with a calm, satisfied smile, "Isn't that right, Hajime?"

That was just like Nagito. He probably had figured out the whole thing already. "Yes," Hajime said. "I saved Chiaki…when I was still Izuru Kamakura." He bowed to his friends. "I'm sorry for keeping it a secret, but Chiaki was suffering from amnesia and you were all still brainwashed with despair. I was worried what might happen to her and I had to keep her still being alive a secret from Junko. Until only a few hours ago she still didn't remember any of you. It was a miracle I was even able to save her, but…I'm still sorry I kept it from you."

"Why are you apologizing?"

Hajime looked up. It had been Akane who spoke.

Akane now had the biggest grin on her face. "Chiaki's alive, right? I mean, this is awesome! Now our class is all back together!"

"No, not all together," Hajime said, looking to the side.

The mood was suddenly brought down as everyone realized that Yukizome was no longer among the living. "B-but…you brought back Nanami to us…can't you do the same for Miss Yukizome?" Kazuichi asked.

Hajime looked to the side in distress. "I'm sorry, but that's not possible."

"What? Why not?" Hiyoko whined. "Are you playing favorites? Huh? If you can bring that narcoleptic gamer back, then you can bring back our teacher to! You've got all the talents, right? So bring back Yukizome right now, do you hear me?"

"It doesn't work like that!" Hajime exclaimed. He then lowered his voice. "When…when I saved Chiaki…her body hadn't gone cold yet and she was still bleeding out. I had to use almost every talent at my disposal to keep her alive." Hajime sighed. "By the time we found Miss Yukizome, her body was cold as ice and rigor mortis had already set in. I saved Chiaki's life using various talents, but even I can't resurrect the dead."

"But…but that's not fair!" Hiyoko exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. "W-we…have to get Miss Yukizome back! It's not…it's not fair!" Hiyoko started to sob uncontrollably and Mahiru gave her a hug.

She smiled at Hajime. "What Hiyoko's trying to say," Mahiru said, "Is that you did a good job bringing Chiaki back to us. We just wish…you could've done the same for Yukizome."

"Yeah, I feel the same."

An awkward silence then permeated through the air, sans the scurrying feet of Gundham's hamsters returning to the body of their owner.

"Um, if I may," Nagito said, his voice piercing the silence.

Everyone looked at him, even Hiyoko as she rubbed the tears from her eyes.

"I know we all want Miss Yukizome to be here with us, but we shouldn't let the despair of her death get us down. Our hope, Chiaki Nanami, has returned to us, so let's celebrate that hope. Let's let our feast tonight symbolize our hope."

"All I needed to hear!" Akane said, smiling cheerfully. "Let's dig in!" she immediately returned to eating.

"Speaking of the symbols of hope," Sonia said, "Since we are no longer the Remnants of Despair, we need a new name for our group. I've tried to think of a name over the past several days, but I don't think I have anything good."

"Any name you could come up with I'm sure is fine Miss Sonia," Kazuichi told her.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Then let us be known henceforth as the Seventeen Miracles of Oz!" Gundham cackled.

"I think we could come up with something far less fancy than that," Mahiru vetoed.

"Why don't we let Nanami name it?" Nagito suggested.

"That's an excellent idea, Nagito-chan," Ibuki stated. "Wow, that's not a sentence I thought I'd say any time soon."

"How about it, Chiaki? Do you have a name?"

"Hey! Why are you calling Chiaki-chan by her first name?" Ibuki suddenly asked. She gasped. "Could it be? Have you two already said your vows?"

"What? No!" Hajime exclaimed.

"Hajime, how could you? I distinctly remembering you promising to marry me," Sonia said, heartbroken.

"I don't remember doing anything like that!" Hajime exclaimed.

"Hajime…" Mikan said, her voice suddenly in a creepy contralto. "I distinctly remember you telling me that we should get married." Her eyes had a crazed darkness to them, but not like despair. They appeared to harbor something far more sinister. "Was that a lie?"

"I…I didn't…"

"Wh-what are you all saying? Hajime's my slave! He promised!" Hiyoko shouted accusatorily. "Get your hands off him, you dirty skanks!"

 _Okay! I definitely didn't promise that!_ Hajime exclaimed internally.

Chiaki watched as the majority of her classmates, one by one, began shouting at Hajime and saying things that they were owed by him or things he promised to do for them, much to Hajime's absolute confusion. Chiaki tuned them out for the majority of the chaotic ordeal, especially when Peko defended him, only for her to try and guide Hajime over to Fuyuhiko, whom Hajime had apparently become the sworn brother of.

"What the heck is going on, goddammit?" Hajime shouted.

Chiaki continued to dote on an idea for an organization name as dinner and its accessories began to get turned upside-down.

"Oh! You want some of this? You're going to regret it!" Nekomaru shouted. Chiaki then heard the sound of a chair being used as a weapon.

"Ah! Please do not destroy this castle! It's all I have left of my former life!" Sonia exclaimed.

"Why me?" Ryota whined as he got under the table, clutching his head and shaking in fear.

And through the whole ordeal, Chiaki continued to think until, finally a name dawned on her. "Ah, I've got it!" She hadn't said it that loud, but somehow everyone heard her, turning to look at her. Their positions were…interesting, especially with Akane standing on a chair with Nekomaru in an arm bar and Ibuki trying to use Byakuya's imposter as a noble steed—though his dour expression and bulk made him more like an angry bull—complete with cowboy hat and saddle. Chiaki figured she was better off not trying to figure out where Ibuki obtained either object.

"Why don't we call ourselves the Secret Hope Society?" Chiaki asked.

"I like that name. It has the word hope in it," Nagito said with a smile.

"Well we all know where _you_ set the bar," Hiyoko snapped.

Kazuichi whistled. "I like the name. Makes us sound like a bunch of renegades."

"Well, Hajime told us we have to stay off the grid for a bit, so I thought we should all be a secret and, well, we're living together so that makes us a society," Chiaki then smiled brightly, "and we're fighting for hope across the world," she then chuckled a little, "but in secret."

"I vote for it!" Ibuki exclaimed, thrusting her arm into the air.

"All in favor?" Sonia asked.

"Aye!" Went the entire room.

"Well that's all well and good, but now," Mahiru said and cleared her throat before shouting, "Can we all work together and clean this mess up?"

Everyone exchanged awkward glances and then promptly and on person fled the room, leaving Mahiru alone. "Very funny!" she shouted. "I will seriously hunt all of you down and _make_ you clean this up! Care about the mess you made!"

"Tag!" Ibuki said, suddenly touching Mahiru on the shoulder. "You're it!"

"Grrrrr!" Mahiru growled and then began chasing after everyone with a mop.

Until the wee hours of the morning, laughter and merriment echoed through the halls of Novoselic castle, the home base of the newly formed Secret Hope Society. The future was certain, but that suited its members just fine because no matter what, they would face each day together and they would tackle their futures as a group one step at a time.

 **END**

* * *

 **(A/N: And I think I'm going to cut it there. Danganronpa is known for leaving its protagonists with uncertain futures so I'm sure you all can figure out where this is going from here on out, not to mention having to untangle the mess I created at the end there is not something someone with a lot of bias like myself can reasonably fix. (Hint: Mikan is my waifu). But in all seriousness, this story was designed to basically add to the events of the Danganronpa 3 anime and give an even happier ending than the one we were already given** _ **because Chiaki deserves to live dammit!**_ **Even if it's not something that you can just tack onto canon, I feel it's a good healing session for anyone still scarred by the anime.**

 **Speaking of scars, if this wasn't enough to your liking, don't worry, I have another project coming down the line. It's called One Year Ahead, One Mile Behind. It's basically a reboot of the entire DGR universe starting with day 1 of Class 77 of Hope's Peak Academy. More details for you all when the story actually gets posted, but I can say that it will be a collaborative effort with my good friend username Setsubou.**

 **But until then, I hope you all enjoyed this short little story and, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human, and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)**


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